THE FITCH PITCH

ABERCROMBIE & FITCH is apparently planning to takeover the Jil Sander shop in Burlington Gardens, W1. The American high street label, which has 800 stores across the US, has apparently decided against opening its first store on Oxford Street as it intends to launch with a more high end image over here. Run by former Gucci executive Francesco Giannaccari, the label's European subsidiary already lost out on the former Versace store on Bond Street to Armani. But not everybody is convinced that the Sander space is the right one. "The Burlington Garden store would be a very strange choice," one retail source told Drapers. "It's like a showroom location and there's not much footfall." (July 27 2005, AM)